


When Lanterns Glow

by orphan_account



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders - Freeform, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders - Freeform, For some odd reason those don't show up in characters so I put them in here as well just in case, Inspired by Tangled (2010), Logic | Logan Sanders - Freeform, M/M, Morality | Patton Sanders - Freeform, Sanders Sides (Video Blogging RPF), Virgil has powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-02 00:38:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14532891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Virgil has been locked up (well, not really, he’s allowed to leave, he just doesn’t) in a tall tower his whole entire life. Deceit has been looking after Virgil for as long as he can remember too. Deceit’s also the one who planted the lies in Virgil’s head, that the people outside the tower are ruthless and will stop at nothing to get Virgil. So, Virgil’s never left his tower because of said lies.Well, when two men show up, that’s obviously going to change because they kidnap Virgil. Kind of. Virgil agreed to go along because he wanted to see the floating lanterns that appear on his birthday, but that’s all. He’ll go right back to his tower after seeing them but close. Virgil swears.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is practically Tangled but with some changes, you'll find out some while reading and others will just be the character changes.
> 
> I also really hope the characters aren't too out of character since I'm still new to writing them.

Now, this story’s probably really cliché. The prince goes missing, a thief comes around and finds him, they fall in love and then everything's happy and everyone gets a happily ever after. Other than the villain who kidnapped the prince in the first place, of course; that guy dies.

(Stop spoiling it!)

Fine. Anyways, the lost prince gets locked-

(Just tell them how you got locked up first! Don’t just skip to you being locked up. That’s not how a proper story goes, there needs to be a beginning!)

Stop interrupting, will you? I’ll start from the beginning if that’ll make you happy.

(Fine. And, yes, it’ll make me happy.)

Good.

Now, the story starts with the prince being young; young enough to even remember anything and not have a care in the world. He would play with toys that could harm him if they broke and all that fun and reckless stuff that a child does that could get him in trouble or hurt him. That is, until one day, the prince got terribly sick. So sick, that if he didn’t get medicine that would help, he would probably die. Unfortunately, there was no medicine available. There was one thing that would save the ill prince though. The thing that would help save the prince was a magical flower that had sprouted from moonlight that had fallen from the sky. I have no idea how that happened but it did.

There - of course - was a bad person who wanted the magical abilities that flower would give. He had found the flower that would give him such powers. The man had not yet figured out how to harness said magical powers when the guards who had been sent to find the flower, well, found the flower. 

Wait, what am I supposed to call him? Since his name is kind of a spoiler.

(Just, think of something! Anything would really work.)

Now, the bad man - since I have a lack of a better name, that’ll be what I’m calling him - had learned about the sick prince needing the flower, so, what better way to get the flower back other than to break into the castle.

When the bad man-

Can’t I just say his name?

(No! Not yet!)

Fine.

When the bad man broke into the castle, he learned that the prince had drunk something with the flower in it, healing the prince from his terrible illness. Once again, I have no idea why because the flower gave him the power to destroy stuff and not heal stuff. Having healing powers would have made more sense as to why he was healed by the flower.

Anyways, instead of stealing the flower, the bad man kidnapped the prince. The bad man took the prince to a tower far away from the kingdom in a small hidden place. Don’t really know where that hidden place is, it’s somewhere in the woods.

(You know, for being one of the main characters of this story, you don’t really know a lot of it.)

I’m not able to see everything, if I was, I’d probably go crazy.

(Well - just for clarification - the tower was about an hour and a half run from the kingdom.)

Did you seriously count how long it took you to get to my tower?

(No?)

You’re unbelievable.

Well, the prince is now locked in a tower far away from the kingdom. I have no idea how no one found it before the annoying interrupter found it since it was - apparently - an hour and a half run from the kingdom. So, the prince was locked up in his tower for sixteen years, with the bad man looking after him for thirteen of them and only coming around every so often to check up on the prince after that. The kingdom searched for the missing prince for all of those years, but since they could never find him, the bad man raised the prince as his little brother.

For all the years the bad man held the missing prince though, he never figured out how to activate the flower’s power.

(And this is the story of how I died.)

You did not die, the only person who died was Deceit.

(What did I say about spoilers?)

You’re talking to me right now, so you obviously didn’t die or else you wouldn’t be talking to me. You didn’t even get hurt.

(Not true. I scraped my hand trying to figure out how to get into your tower.)

Yeah, like that counts.

(It does!)

Okay, Mister Drama. Let’s just get on with the story.

(Oh, goodie! Don’t forget the good parts!)

And what would the good parts be?

(All the parts where I got you to sing, of course! You have a wonderful singing voice!)

(And everything else. Everything else about our adventure was good.)

Fine.  

(Wait!)

What?

(You forgot about the lanterns!)

Oh, right. Deciding that the young prince hadn’t been kidnapped and could find his way back home by himself, the king and queen decided to light thousands of lanterns in hope that the young prince would find his way back home. Not like that would start a fire somewhere or anything if any of the lanterns burnt down above something flammable. The king and queen released the lanterns every year on the young prince’s birthday, and, it just so happens, that the young prince saw the many lanterns floating in the sky. Apparently, the wind liked the young prince enough to blow in his direction for sixteen years so he could see the floating lanterns.

Now can I get on with the story?

(Yeah, go right ahead!)  

Finally.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of their story.

Virgil sat on the windowsill, looking out into the trees past the small mountain in front of him; trees covering most of the land on top of the mountain. Virgil’s tower was tall enough to over to see the other side of the mountain, but only for Virgil, it seemed like the tower had some protections and charms and such on it to protect it from the outside world. To just to get in or out of the tower you had to say a truth, much like how Virgil’s older brother did whenever he left for supplies. Virgil had never left the tower before - for the fear of getting on Deceit’s (Virgil’s big brother) bad side or getting kidnapped by ruthless people who were after his power - and he didn’t think he wanted to. Deceit had always told Virgil stories of how the people on the outside were terrible people who kidnapped and stole and killed and lied. The worst people had blood all over them and large pointy teeth that could break through the skin without even trying. Virgil had asked multiple times to leave the tower only to get a long talk about why he couldn’t and those were mostly the reason why. Of course, Deceit could be lying (Virgil doubted he do that though, Deceit was Virgil’s big brother and you would never lie to family) about the outside people. Virgil didn’t know, for he had never seen another person besides Deceit.

Virgil didn’t really do anything around in the tower, except clean and read. Those were the two things that didn’t seem to have the worst outcome. There were so many things that could go wrong, if he were to make candles he could burn himself; same with baking. If Virgil were to paint he could fall off the ladder he was painting on (since Virgil didn’t have any canvas he would paint the walls, it seemed like the most reasonable choice unless he were to ask Deceit to pick up some canvases). Cleaning would get on Deceit’s good side for the tower being clean; since both he and Virgil slept and ate breakfast together (lunch and dinner was mostly just Virgil alone since Deceit would be out getting supplies). And since everything else could go bad, that only left reading and the only bad thing that could come from that is that Virgil lost track of time; which wasn’t all that bad. Virgil didn’t really lose track of time though, since he sat near the windowsill. Even just sitting on the windowsill like Virgil was doing could be bad,, he could fall off and die! Virgil usually wasn’t _almost_ shaking hands with death, so he wouldn’t sit on the windowsill, but today was special. Today was the day that Virgil would try to be less nervous about the risks of something; he had been nervous of everything ever since he could remember. So, Virgil decided that, for when he turned eighteen, he would be less nervous about everything.

Of course, Virgil hadn’t done anything other than sit on the windowsill since he was waiting for Deceit to come back to the tower. Deceit would usually leave after breakfast, be back before lunch and then leave before eating lunch, and then be back after dinner. Besides, it would probably be best to have someone close by in case Virgil did mess up on something and needed help fixing it; like creating a fire from trying to bake or burning himself from the hot wax that would be needed to make candles. Virgil would much rather not take that risk. He was already a bit uncomfortable from sitting on the windowsill, so, he got off. Virgil would always hear Deceit coming so it didn’t matter if he waited by the window for him. Deceit had to say his truth to get into the tower after all, since there wasn’t really any rope to get up through the large window that Virgil had just been sitting on. So, Virgil decided to go and read some more, it was either that or clean and he had already done that till eight in the morning. Of course, Virgil hated waking up that early but Deceit didn’t really like him sleeping in so Deceit would wake Virgil up anyways. Maybe instead of reading Virgil could take a nap? That sounded like a good idea, a nap before Deceit got home sounded much better than reading until Virgil’s mind hurt.

 

\---

 

Roman had always wanted adventure, getting it in the most unlikely of places. The orphanage he grew up in, the streets of his old town, and even on the run from people he had accidentally angered. Roman had always been able to find the adventure he wanted, be it rescuing someone (it was a cat but it counted) or stopping a thief (said thief stole some lady’s purse and had almost escaped before Roman accidentally tripped into him); adventure just had some way of finding Roman actually. Along Roman’s journey to find more adventure, he had met Patton - his best friend and partner in crime - alone in some pub and offered to take Patton along with him. Patton was shaking his head happily before Roman could even finish his sentence; it did seem like Patton wanted out of the pub.

Roman ran towards the castle, Patton trailing behind him. Today was the day; today Roman was going to steal the missing prince’s crown because it was an adventure. There would be a great chase scene and maybe even a sword fight, and someone would probably die. It would be a great adventure! Roman might even get some amazing scars to show off to his friends at the pub that Roman and Patton would visit every once in awhile. Climbing up the castle wall seemed to harder than it seemed though.

“Are we really doing this, Roman?” Patton questioned, concerned for the sake of his friend.

Roman flashed a grin towards Patton. “Why, of course! We’ll only keep the crown for a day and then we’ll give it right back! It’ll be a great adventure, don’t you think?” Roman handed Patton a rope that the less enthusiastic one would lower down into the room.  

Patton didn’t touch the rope. “I know it’s a great adventure, but it’s stealing, Roman. It’s not good to steal things.”

“It’s borrowing,” Roman corrected, “without telling them we’re borrowing it. They won’t even notice it’s missing!” He begun to lift the loose tile off of the roof, allowing access to room the crown was in. Which didn’t quite make sense for a singular crown to have it’s own room. Roman held out his hand. “Now, pass me a bit of the rope so I can wrap it around my waist so you can lower me down.” Why Roman hadn’t tied the rope before handing it to Patton is a mystery, it was probably him just being forgetful of that part of the plan though.

Patton lowered his friend down, being extra careful not to drop Roman; that would not be good. Not only would Roman be caught and be taken to jail for breaking into the castle (Patton still didn’t like this), he would also be taken to jail for trying to steal the missing prince’s crown (another thing Patton didn’t like). Patton had liked most of the adventures that Roman had taken him on, mostly just traveling around and all that, but this one seemed a little much. Stealing the missing prince’s crown seemed too much of a crime to actually be an adventure, besides, once the prince comes back he’ll need that crown!

"Patton! Pull me up!" Roman yelled out, pulling on the rope that he was attached to.

"On it!" Patton yelled out towards his friend, pulling the rope with all his might. Roman had obviously gotten the crown, and somehow gotten caught because Patton could hear yelling as he pulled Roman out from the room.

Roman grabbed the ledge of the roof, pulling himself up as Patton pulled the rope. "We should probably run." Roman pointed towards the exit of the village. Patton only nodded.

 

\---

 

Virgil sighed as he read the same book for the fifteenth time, slamming the cover closed and placing it back on the shelf in his room. It had gotten boring being stuck in the tower for who knows how long, Deceit hadn’t really told Virgil how long he had been in the tower. Only really telling Virgil how old he was and that wasn’t really a for sure answer since it was impossible to tell when someone was actually born because there were no clocks to say if it was midnight or anything. That was fine, Virgil could always tell when it was his birthday by the floating purple lanterns that were released during the night before his birthday. When Virgil was little he would think that they were stars, but the only stars that Virgil could see weren’t purple, so that obviously wasn’t true.

“I will protect Virgil.” Deceit’s voice echoed throughout the tower, allowing Virgil to know that his older brother was home. Deceit had told Virgil that the only way in and out of the tower was to tell a truth and that was the one that Deceit would use to get in and out. “Virgil, I am definitely not home!” Virgil rolled his eyes at his brother, Deceit had always been very sarcastic.

“And I am definitely not in my room!” Virgil softly laughed to himself, he hadn’t really been the one to say hello after his brother got home. Deceit left so often that it was mostly just Virgil for days on end; it was a good thing that Deceit made plenty of food to last the amount of time that he was gone for. Virgil had really just come to see his brother as more of a roommate instead.

Deceit had walked into Virgil’s room, making Virgil look up from the book he had taken down from his shelf - a different one from the one he had put back on the shelf. “Don’t you want to say hello to your big brother?”

“Not really, no, besides, you usually come see me anyways,” Virgil explained, turning the page of his book but not really reading it.

Deceit frowned. “Oh, come on, is that any way to talk to your brother?” Virgil just shrugged. “Do you want to go outside ever?”

Virgil nearly choked on nothing, Deceit had never asked that. “What?”

“Do you want to go outside ever?” Deceit repeated.

Virgil didn’t need to think. “Not really no, I’m fine here. Don’t want to get kidnapped or anything.”

Deceit frowned once more. “That’s no good. You should want to go outside!”

“Why?” Virgil questioned, “Everything you’ve told me about the outside world really contradicts that.”

“Of course it doesn’t!” Deceit yelled out, pulling Virgil off the bed. “There’s men out there with sharp, pointy teeth and people who lie!”

Virgil nodded. “Totally doesn’t sound scary,” Virgil said sarcastically.  

Deceit had started to list off all of the things that he had listed off many times to Virgil; who practically knew them by heart by now. It would be better if Deceit sung it, since it seemed to be more of a song than anything but Deceit wasn’t really one for singing. Every time Deceit did this was when Virgil had asked to go outside as a child, and it had just made Virgil even more afraid of the world. Virgil didn’t really understand why Deceit would want him to go outside, especially after telling Virgil of all the dangers of the outside world.

“You know what we should do?” Deceit questioned once he was done listing off the dangers.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “What?”

“Go outside.”

“Are you serious?”

“I am completely serious,” Deceit told Virgil, smirking a little. Deceit patted Virgil’s head. “Now, I’m _not_ going out for the rest of the week to _not_ get you a birthday present.” Virgil rolled his eyes.

Virgil let out a soft laugh as Deceit left the room, grabbing his book and putting it back on the bookshelf much like he had with the other book. Deceit had wanted Virgil to go outside, and he was completely serious about it. Sure, Deceit jokes around a lot but he wouldn’t joke around about something as dangerous as the outside world was; Virgil knew that perfectly well, having listened to that list a hundred times when he was younger. So, why did Deceit want Virgil to outside now? Was it because Virgil was older and probably knew what to do in case of an emergency now? Virgil was just going to have to find out, besides, he did want to be less nervous of the world. What better than going outside of his tower?


	3. Chapter 2

“Run!” Roman yelled out as he jumped over a fallen down tree, Patton running right beside him. Not only had Roman been seen getting the missing prince’s crown (Patton still didn’t like that they had stolen it) but now he was running from the guards who were chasing both him and Patton. This did not seem to be the best adventure that Roman was hoping for; this seemed to be the complete opposite. The guards were not supposed to be chasing Roman at all!

Somehow, without either Patton or Roman noticing, they came to a dead end and with the guards coming quick they had to act fast. Patton was the first to climb up, holding out his hand for Roman to grab, pulling Roman up just like he had done before they had gotten into this mess. The guards shouted at the two men who had just robbed the castle as Roman and Patton ran away from the cliff that horses wouldn’t be able to climb. Neither of them had heard the captain of the guard yell at his men to retrieve the crown at any cost; Roman had been too busy whistle as they ran off. 

“Come back here, thieves!” Someone yelled at the two as they ran off, clearing the man who was trailing Roman and Patton was not far away for his voice seemed very close. 

Roman looked behind himself after finding both Patton and him at the edge of a cliff; Patton just stared at the tree growing out the side of the cliff, amazed at what nature could do to survive. The guard - there was only one, meaning the others had probably fallen behind - that had called out to them getting ever so closer to the two thieves (that was what they were, they had stolen the crown, no matter how hard Roman tried to convince himself that he was just borrowing without asking) at the edge of the cliff. Roman found it funny that both the guard and Patton seemed to have the same glasses; right now was not the time for laughs though. 

The guard held his hand out. “Hand me the crown,” He demanded. 

Roman had a plan; a plan to make this even more of an adventure a daring thief would be on. Jumping onto the tree, Roman smirked. “Make me.” 

“Roman!” Patton yelled out, clearly both scared and concerned for his friend. “Just give the nice guard guy the crown and maybe we won’t go to jail.” 

“No, the both of you will be going to jail. Not only did you steal the crown but you broke into the castle,” The guard explained. Now, all three of them were on the tree, Roman near the very edge of it. This did not seem like a good idea.

Roman had an idea, but not a very good one. The idea would probably get all three of them killed; it seemed like a long drop to the bottom. Roman jumped once more, the tree bouncing with his weight.

“Do not do that, if the tree is to fall we would die,” The guard sternly said, his hand still held out for the crown. Roman just bounced again; the guard didn’t seem to be smart enough to figure out that if he were to move closer to Roman he would get the crown, Roman didn’t exactly have anywhere else to go. 

The tree moved by itself, it only staying up by a small root that was stuck behind a rock. Roman bounced once more, making the root fall from behind the rock; making the tree fall. A series of screams were heard as Roman, Patton, and the nameless guard fell to the ground. Roman held onto the crown tightly as to not lose it as they fell. It wasn’t long before the three of them hit the ground, making Roman look up. Sure, falling down didn’t take long but a fall from that high would surely take a little longer than did; it didn’t even feel like it had been five seconds. The cliff that had seemed to be such a big deal didn’t look that so far up, only a couple feet or so. Why did it look like it was over a hundred feet down? 

“How did we survive, a fall like that should’ve killed us?” The guard exclaimed. Before he could even notice that both Patton and Roman were conscious, Roman grabbed Patton by the hand and ran. Roman distantly heard the guard yell, “Get back here you thieves!” 

Roman (with Patton being dragged behind him) ran forward, deeper into the forest. Which probably wasn’t a very good idea because both of them could get lost very easily. Roman could hear the guard behind him - Patton did not make that loud of footsteps - and turned at a rock, hiding behind it as the guard moved forward. A wall of vines covered the back wall where the rock was sticking out from, a large tree providing cover from the other side. 

Roman sighed as he went to go lean up against the back wall, only to fall onto his back. Mumbling an ow, Roman got up. “Patton, come see this!” He called out to his friend who was still on the other side of the vine wall. Behind the vine wall was a tower, a tall tower; one that would probably be in a fairy tale. “There could be someone who needs to be saved in that tower, come on!” Roman raced towards the tower. 

Patton, having just come out from behind the vine wall, glanced up in awe. “Wow. It’s a really tall tower, how are we even going to get up?” Patton questioned, asking something that Roman hadn’t even thought about.

How were they supposed to get up the tower? There wasn’t a door on the front, but there was a large window at the very top that seemed to be open. The tower curved outwards towards the top though, so it would probably be very hard to climb. How would they even climb the tower? The bricks didn’t look easy to climb and neither of them had rope. Roman circled the tower, finding a door on the other side. 

“Patton, I found a door!” Roman called out to his friend. Grabbing onto the doorknob, Roman pulled the door; it didn’t open. “That’s weird,” Roman mumbled.

“What’s weird?” Patton asked as he turned around the corner of the tower. 

“The door won’t open,” Roman explained, trying again. Even going as far as to put his foot on the other side of the door to try to get it open, and on the door in case it opened the other way. 

Patton tried to open the door as well, getting no farther than Roman had. Patton sighed, “The door won’t budge. Maybe we should go return the crown you stole.” 

Roman frowned. “I did not steal the crown, I’m just borrowing it without asking.” The door swung open. Roman blinked, making sure he didn’t imagine that the door had opened on its own. “Did you just see what I saw?” Patton nodded. “Well, shall we go in?” Roman questioned, pointing inside the tower.

 

\---

 

Virgil had heard the two people arguing about how to open the door, and even as they came close to the tower. People had found Virgil’s tower; people who might want to kidnap Virgil or lie to him. Virgil did not want that, not at all. He wasn’t about to be a person in distress and wait for Deceit to get back to help Virgil with what to do about the people; besides Deceit wasn’t supposed to be back for three days, Virgil couldn’t hide from two people for that long. Virgil mentally laughed that he had just realized that it was his birthday in three days, what great timing for Deceit to get back from his trip. 

Virgil grabbed the closest thing he knew wouldn’t hurt the people who had entered that much - just in case they weren’t here to kidnap and/or hurt Virgil and they were friends of Deceit’s - which just so happened to be a frying pan. Virgil didn’t even know that he owned a frying pan; Deceit must have picked it up (of course, Virgil never left the tower, how was he to pick up a frying pan?). 

“Hello?” One of the men sung out. Virgil could hear the men walk up the stairs, their steps echoing through the empty bottom of the tower. 

Virgil didn’t answer the man who had called out, why would he give up his element of surprise? That would just be stupid. Virgil stood by the trapdoor, ready to swing at the first person who entered. Of course, Virgil was nervous, the frying pan shaking in his hands. If these weren’t friends of Deceit’s (they probably weren’t or else Deceit probably would’ve introduced them sooner) they could be here to harm Virgil, but if they weren’t (still, probably weren’t Deceit’s friends) Deceit could get mad at Virgil for hurting his friends. That and there was two of them, Virgil wasn’t sure he would be fast enough to knock them both out; if he could even knock out the first guy that is.

The trapdoor swung open and Virgil swung, hitting something with a clang. Virgil raised his frying pan to strike once more, only to be startled by a concerned gasp.

“Roman!” The conscious man ran over to his friend that had fallen unconscious at the top of the stairs. “Oh my gosh, don’t be dead!” 

“Why would he be dead? I only hit him with a frying pan,” Virgil pointed out, dropping his frying pan to his side before raising it once more. This really wasn’t the time for conversation, the other guy was still conscious after all and could still - probably easily unless Virgil whacked him with the frying pan too - kidnap Virgil. 

“He could have a concussion then!” The man didn’t seem so bad, he was worrying over his friend after all; and, from what Virgil could tell, his teeth weren’t pointy at all. 

Virgil lowered his frying pan, not completely dropping it. “Who are you?” Virgil questioned, maybe making conversation with a stranger could be a good thing? Sure, Virgil was nervous that the guy could be a kidnapper (and the fact that he had just hit his buddy with a frying pan, that may make the guy hate Virgil) but Virgil had never met anyone; it may be a good thing to have some other people to talk to other than Deceit. 

“Do you think you could help me move him to something more comfortable? The floor probably won’t help if he has a concussion.” The man started to lift his friend off of the floor. Virgil was about to raise his frying pan to hit the conscious man but decided against it, the man did not seem bad and besides, if he did turn out to be bad, Virgil could always hit him over the head with the frying pan. So, Virgil helped the man bring his friend to the couch near the window. “Thanks,” The man sighed, “my name’s Patton by the way. Sorry for breaking into your tower, Roman thought there may be someone who needed saving.” Patton apologized; Virgil was starting to trust him just a little bit more. 

“Sorry I hit your friend with a frying pan,” Virgil mumbled, still slightly nervous to talk to Patton. Virgil hadn’t really talked to anyone other than Deceit for as long as he can remember; Virgil hadn’t even met anyone else other than Deceit. 

“I’m sure it’ll be okay.” Patton pushed his friend’s (Roman if Virgil had heard Patton correctly) hair out of his face. “How’d you know we weren’t someone you know though?” 

Virgil placed the frying pan beside the couch. “My brother said he was going out for three days and I don’t really know anyone else. No one’s ever found my tower.” Virgil explained. He should not be telling Patton anything really, he could just be someone who could tell someone else of Virgil’s location and then Virgil could actually be kidnapped; even if Patton didn’t want to kidnap Virgil. 

“You don’t have any friends?” Virgil shook his head. Patton frowned. “I’ll be your friend, if you want.” 

Virgil stared at Patton for a moment, maybe to find something - anything - that indicated that Patton couldn’t be trusted. That he was just putting up an act or something and would tell people of Virgil’s location so they could harm him. Virgil couldn’t find anything of the sort. Virgil took in a breath. “I’d-I’d like that.” 

Patton tackled Virgil into a hug. “Yay! I’m your first friend!” He seemed very happy about that. 

The man on the couch winced. “Patton, not so loud.”

“Sorry,” Patton whispered, lowering himself back onto the seat that Virgil had brought out. 

The man - Roman - sat up, looking between the two people in front of him. Roman’s eyes locked onto Virgil, making Virgil slightly more nervous. “You have purple hair.” 

Virgil pulled a strand of his hair down in front of his face. “Yeah,” He breathed out, “I guess I do.” Virgil had never noticed it before, since Deceit had always been the one to cut Virgil’s hair since he was afraid he would hurt himself with the scissors. Virgil had always just thought his hair was black. 

“It looks really cool!” Roman exclaimed, “I wish I had purple hair!” 

“I - uh - thanks?” Virgil had never gotten a compliment before so it was new to him. Deceit wasn’t really one for telling one that they looked good or anything of the sort. 

“You are very welcome!” Roman’s face shifted into one of confusion. “Wait, didn’t you hit me in the head with a frying pan?” 

“I’m sorry, just didn’t know who you were and all. First time anyone’s ever really come to my tower and all,” Virgil explained, shrugging his shoulders. He had already told this to Patton so it was, kind of, annoying that Virgil had to explain it all again. 

Roman nodded. “Ah, yes, about that. Do you need any saving?” 

Virgil blinked. “Um, no? Never really left the tower so I haven’t gotten on anyone’s bad side so there’s no one really after me or anything.” 

“You’ve never left your tower?” Patton questioned, finally getting back into the conversation. Virgil had wondered why Patton had gotten quiet, Patton was probably just letting Roman and Virgil get acquainted with each other first.

Virgil shook his head, he seemed to be doing that a lot today. Probably because he finally had someone to really talk to other than Deceit. “Nope.”  

“Well,” Roman began, sitting up on the couch, “We’re just going to have to change that!” 

“How about no?” Roman frowned.

“Don’t you even want to go outside?” Patton questioned, moving his chair ever so closer to Virgil. Probably because the chairs were on the opposite end of the couch and now that Roman had sat up he was closer to Virgil than Patton. 

“When I was little, yeah,” Virgil explained, shrugging his shoulders, “Not really that much now, my brother did say that I should go outside though.” Deceit had told Virgil that, right before Deceit started to list off the dangers of the world. 

Roman patted Virgil on the back. “Then you should listen to your brother! Come with us outside, isn’t there anything you would like to see?” 

Virgil could see the trees and the ground from his tower, and birds and other insects liked to find their way into the tower, so Virgil didn’t really feel like seeing those. There was always another place that had actual buildings and not just forest, maybe visit a small town where barely anyone lived. “The lanterns,” Virgil spoke out loud. “If anything I’d want to see the lanterns up close.” 

Patton looked at Virgil curiously. “You mean the floating lanterns the king and queen light for the missing prince?” Had that been why there were always lanterns once a year? Virgil hadn’t known, Deceit hadn’t either but didn’t tell Virgil not to try to figure them out. Virgil had always wondered why the lanterns had come out, he knew why now so there goes that. 

Virgil nodded. “I can see them through my window when they come out. I usually watch them drift away before I go to bed.” Virgil explained. 

Roman smiled. “That’s it then! Patton and I will get you out of this tower to go see the floating lanterns!” Roman stood up from the couch fast, sitting back down immediately. “That was a bad idea.” 

Patton let out a soft laugh at his friend. “The lanterns won’t come out until three days from now, anyone up for a little exploring?” 

Virgil frowned in confusion. “Exploring where?” 

“The forest, of course!” Roman answered, “You never know what kind of adventure there will be hidden behind a rock or tree. That’s how we found your tower!” 

Patton nodded. “You should probably go pack. We’ll be out there for three days.” 

“Don’t really have anything to pack,” Virgil admitted, standing up from his chair and placing it back at the table. “Not really much in the tower.” 

It was Roman this time who frowned in confusion. “Then why are you staying?” 

“Deceit - he’s my brother - has told me that people’ll try to kidnap me and stuff, that’s all. Just a bit nervous about going out on my own and all, normal stuff when you’re a little kid and are heading out for the first time by yourself,” Virgil explained, placing the dishes he had left to dry (even before this all happened) back in the cabinets. Virgil had put off doing his chores (really, it was just putting the dishes away) for long enough and if he wasn’t going to be home for three days, he might as well do them. 

Virgil was really going to leave his tower, wasn’t he? For the first time in, well, as long as Virgil could remember, he wouldn’t be seeing the same trees that hid the sun in the morning. Virgil would be leaving his tower and exploring the forest, oh gosh, what if he got lost? Would Deceit be able to find him or would Deceit even care? Of course Deceit would care, what was Virgil thinking? Deceit was Virgil’s brother and had raised Virgil all by himself, of course Deceit would care about the wellbeing of his brother. 

“Why would anyone try to kidnap you?” One of the men (Virgil couldn’t really tell who since he wasn’t really looking, he assumed it was Patton though) questioned. That was a really good question, Virgil hadn’t even asked himself that when Deceit told him that people would try to kidnap him. 

Virgil shrugged. “Don’t know, just something my brother told me.” 

“That really defeats the purpose of him telling you to outside,” Roman (Virgil had walked back into the living room by now) told Virgil as he moved over so Virgil could sit on the couch. Virgil just shrugged. Roman sighed, “Well, I say we get moving now. It won’t be dark for another couple hours, it’d be best to get more ground when it’s light out.” Patton nodded. 

So, the three of them got up and walked over to the door. Virgil couldn’t really believe this was happening, he was going to go outside, without Deceit, with two people he had just met. How is that for not being too nervous for once? Going exploring with two strangers that you had no idea what they did to live totally seemed like a good idea. Virgil felt like he was going to regret this later. 


	4. Chapter 3

Virgil paused at the beginning of the stairs, staring at something that seemed to be shining from the light that passed through the window. Looking at it more closely, Virgil realized it was a crown of some sorts (it certainly looked too small to be a normal crown) and picked it up. Virgil didn’t have any more time to examine it before someone called from the stairs, making Virgil quickly put the crown into the pocket of his jacket.

“The door won’t open!” Roman (Virgil could now tell the difference between their voices) yelled up, probably tugging or pushing on the door as he did so. 

Virgil hurried down the stairs, seeing Patton now trying to open the door. “It was like this when we got here before,” Patton explained.

Virgil laughed at the men in front of him. “That’s because you have to say something true or else it won’t let anyone or out. Deceit is my brother,” Virgil told the door and a click was heard, allowing the door to swing open. After a series of ‘oh’s’ the three of them were on their way, out to explore. 

Virgil had never stepped outside before and the grass beneath his feet felt weird. Almost like little tiny needles (Virgil - despite not using them himself - did have sewing needles in his house) were pressing into his skin. For some odd reason, the feeling didn’t make Virgil nervous or scared that he would get injured despite the weird feeling, it almost made him feel calm. Grass felt better than the cold stone of the tower though. 

“Virgil!” Patton yelled out, “Where are your shoes?” 

Virgil looked down at his feet, he hadn’t had any shoes for awhile. They were too tedious to make; Virgil also didn’t know how to make shoes. Virgil shrugged. “Don’t have any.” 

Patton turned to look at Roman, who just shook his head (Virgil was pretty sure they had both been thinking the same thing or something). “Just watch where you step, okay? We don’t want you to get hurt before we make it to the village!” Virgil only nodded and began to watch where stepped. 

 

Virgil regretted go exploring with two strangers that he barely knew anything about. Patton liked to make dad jokes (was Patton even a dad?) and Roman (and even Patton at times) would hum - and sometimes sing - all the time. It felt like it had been six hours since Virgil had left the tower and he already wanted to return to it; Virgil had no idea where he was though so that would probably impossible unless he was to see something he knew, like the mountain that surrounded his tower! Only thing was, there was mountains everywhere! Sure, they weren’t all the same height but it was nearly impossible to tell them apart for Virgil, everything just looked the same as it did the previous thousand steps he had taken. 

“Roman do you know where we’re going?” Patton broke the silence (both of the others had stopped humming hours ago) and stopped, making both Virgil and Roman stop as well. 

Roman was silent for a moment. “No?” His answer came out more of a question than a statement. Virgil had been following someone was who just as lost as he was, great. Roman sighed, “Okay, I may have gotten us a little lost,” Roman admitted, making Virgil groan. 

“So, we’ve just been walking around in the forest - probably in a circle! - for who knows how long?” Virgil questioned, slightly annoyed at how his first venture out of the tower had turned out to be. Virgil should’ve never left the tower, it seemed to just made him annoyed at who he had gone with. If anything, Virgil should have waited for Deceit to get back and go outside of his tower with him, not some strangers that Virgil had accidentally knocked unconscious. 

“There should be a path somewhere!” Patton exclaimed, trying to lift both Roman and Virgil’s spirits, probably. Roman did seem a little down now that he had admitted that he had gotten the three of them lost, Virgil on the other hand was only slightly annoyed. Patton grabbed onto Roman and Virgil’s hands, dragging them along with him as Patton took the lead. “Come on, it shouldn’t be too far!” Patton didn’t seem to slow down as the three of them made it out of the forest and onto a path that wasn’t too far from where they were, proving Patton right. 

The three of them walked along the path, Virgil looking all around; looking at the birds in the trees that he could actually see now and not just hear and looking out for anything on the ground that could hurt him, like glass. The path was made of dirt and there were some rocks in it, making it much different from the grass and the stone that Virgil had gotten used to, he begun to wonder how many different things he would see while outside of the tower. 

Roman yawned as they passed a sign, and from what Virgil could tell it pointed to the village that the three of them were heading to. “I say once we find an inn we rest there for the night.” 

Patton nodded, “I think so too, we don’t want- I just realized we had never asked your name!” Patton exclaimed, sounding sad that he had forgotten to do that until now. The three of them stopped on the path as Patton stepped in front of Virgil. “What is your name?” Patton asked.

Virgil hadn’t even realized that he hadn’t told the two people he was traveling with his name. “I guess I never really did tell you my name,” Virgil admitted, “it’s Virgil.” 

Patton clapped (for what reason, Virgil didn’t understand, it wasn’t like his name was a big deal). “That’s a really cool name!” 

“Thanks?” 

“Hey Patton, has the pub always been this far from the village?” Roman questioned as he walked back (when had he left?) towards Virgil and Patton. Roman seemed to be pointing at something not far off in the distance, around the corner where the path curved. 

Patton walked towards the curve, without speaking, and turned behind the trees. Leaving Virgil alone standing in the middle of the path; Virgil didn’t really care though, Roman was still standing there in front of him and it wasn’t like Patton had gone far.  Deciding that standing in the middle of the path was a bit awkward, Virgil walked towards where Patton had disappeared to. There was a building, a rather large one, that looked like a pub or something (Virgil had only read about them so he didn’t really know what one looked like but he had gotten descriptions of what one would probably look like) and Virgil saw Patton walk up to the sign. 

Patton turned around, scratching his head. “I always thought it was closer to town,” Patton explained, sounding very puzzled. Patton just shrugged. “Well, we found where we’re staying for tonight. We should go sign in!” 

Virgil followed Patton and Roman in, slightly scared of what would be in a pub that was in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, who puts a pub there? 

 

\---

 

Deceit hadn’t realized he had forgotten his cloak at the tower until he was almost to the town, and now he had to go back to the tower. It wasn’t like Virgil would really mind though, Deceit would lie about when he would get home loads of times - well, more like overestimate. So, Deceit walked back to the tower; taking his time as he did so. 

“Oh, hello,” a guard had been placing a wanted poster on the rock wall beside the vines that hide Virgil’s prison. Deceit stared at him confused, why was a guard out this far. “Have you seen this man? He recently stole the missing prince’s crown with a accomplice, though, I didn’t get a good look at him.” The guard pointed to the wanted poster. “They ran through these parts but suddenly disappeared after I turned this corner.” 

Deceit began to worry, if the two wanted men had run through these parts there was a chance that they had found Virgil’s prison. “There’s a pub down that way,” Deceit pointed towards the trees heading the long way to the pub, it was faster to go the other way around, “they could be hiding there.” Lying was easy for Deceit, that was probably why he had gotten Virgil to stay in the tower for so long. Deceit couldn’t shake the worry that Virgil had left his prison though, or worse, been kidnapped. Of course, Deceit had kidnapped Virgil in the first place but still; Virgil could be kidnapped again. 

After the guard went off the way Deceit had sent him, Deceit ran through the vine wall that hid the tower from sight. Deceit couldn’t tell if Virgil was still in it or not since the boy usually kept to his room, and the only way to get into the tower was from the door on the ground. From what Deceit could tell, it hadn’t been tampered with so if the wanted men had come through they hadn’t been able to figure out how to get in and gave up; hopefully. 

“I’m not here to see if Virgil is here,” Deceit told the door, lying to it as it swung open for him. Of course, the door wouldn’t open to the truth, that wasn’t who Deceit was. Why tell the truth when lying was so much easier for him? “Virgil, are you not here?” Deceit questioned as he walked up the steps, surely Virgil would hear him. Virgil usually heard Deceit as he talked to the door so it wouldn’t be that hard to hear him from the stairs. There was no answer from Virgil. 

Deceit walked into Virgil’s room, finding an empty bed and all the books put away nicely. Virgil had left the tower; Virgil had escaped from his prison. 

 

\---

 

The pub was dark and didn't have any music playing, making Virgil slightly nervous. Just what type of pub was this? One that ruffians and thugs went to? Apparently so, because there were guys glaring at Virgil, Roman, and Patton as they walked in; Virgil could even see one of them had a hook for a hand. The three of them did look out of place, there was a guy with tattoos galor and then there was Patton in a bright blue shirt. Virgil actually seemed to be one the one that was the  _ least  _ out of place here, wearing all black as he usually did; only having little bits of purple here and there. 

Roman walked up to the bartender, who was currently cleaning glasses by spitting in them. “Hello, we would like a room for three please!” Roman asked as cheerfully as Virgil had seen him. Virgil was so confused as to why, this did not look like a place where kindness and happiness would get you anything. Maybe killing a person but Virgil really hoped that Roman (or Patton, but he was very unlikely, Patton didn’t even seem violent enough to hurt a fly) hadn’t killed anyone. 

The bartender grabbed a piece of paper from below, placing it on the counter. “This you?” Virgil didn’t like the way the man’s voice sounded, almost as if he was ready to kill Roman. Virgil would not like to witness a murder, thank you very much. 

Roman seemed to be studying the piece of paper, the only word Virgil seeing was a big, bold Wanted. “Why, yes, it is!” Roman announced, making everyone in the pub turn to him. “Wait, why am I on a wanted poster?” Roman yelled out. 

Patton sighed, “Probably because you stole the missing prince’s crown, Roman.” Virgil had been traveling with thieves? They didn’t look like anything Deceit had told them someone wicked would look like! Deceit would never lie to Virgil; okay, maybe about small things like what time Deceit would be home by that didn’t really count. 

The thugs and ruffians had grabbed onto Roman, and Virgil swore he heard someone yell for someone to get the guards. Roman and Patton were trying to reason with them, and Virgil saw someone race out the door; probably to go get the guards. Virgil still couldn’t believe he had been traveling with thieves this whole entire time. What was he thinking? He could’ve gotten himself kidnapped, or worse, murdered! Of course they were thieves, though, where else would the crown had come from? 

Virgil couldn’t tell when but music (removing the background silence that wasn’t people yelling at each other) started playing and suddenly people were singing. What was this, a musical? Everyone was singing about their dreams and hobbies (how had this even started?), even Roman and Patton had begun to sing. Virgil didn’t even know Patton knew how to sing, he had only heard the jokes and hums the overly happy man would do. Virgil was all fine, just watching, until he was suddenly pulled up on the stage. 

“What’s your dream, Virgil?” Patton questioned, slightly singing it. What was Virgil’s dream, did he even have one? 

Virgil glanced around the room, everyone was watching him; and that was a lot of people waiting for him to sing or something. “I - uh - just want to see the lanterns and then go back to the tower, really,” Virgil explained, deciding that he didn’t like talking in front of a lot of people at all. He could mess up and then everyone could easily hate him because of it. 

“Your dream sucks!” Someone yelled out, ending the song that everyone had been singing. Of course Virgil’s dream sucked, he didn’t really have one after all. 

Patton frowned beside Virgil. “That wasn’t very nice!” Patton grabbed onto Virgil. “I think his dream is just as good as the rest of ours,” Patton admitted, Roman nodding beside him. Virgil hadn’t even heard what the others’ dreams were, so, hopefully, what Patton was saying was true. Virgil didn’t really like that wanting to see the lanterns was called a dream though, it was more like something that Virgil wanted to do more than anything. 

The door suddenly slammed open, revealing the guy who had left to go get the guards; at least, who Virgil suspected who went since he didn’t really see who did go. “I’ve got the guards,” The man said, almost out of breath. Had he really run all the way from where the guards were back here? It would’ve just been easier to walk, it wasn’t like Roman could really go anywhere since the only door was blocked by the man. Besides, it hadn’t taken the man long to get the guards so they obviously hadn’t been too far away. 

Multiple guards were now in the pub, looking around for Roman; probably. There had already been too many people for Virgil when they had first entered the pub and now there were more, how fun. Virgil was pulled away from the stage (which was really a piano that seemed to be able to hold three fully grown men) and down behind the bar. 

“Follow your dream,” The bartender told Roman before opening a trapdoor, well, now the three of them all had a way out of the pub. Roman only nodded before going into the tunnel, Patton and Virgil following after him. 

Virgil could not believe he was doing this; he had just learned that the two guys he was traveling with were thieves (or, it was confirmed that they were thieves) and now he was going to be running from the guards with them. How great this road trip turned out to be. Virgil should have never left the tower and just stayed there, watching the lanterns from the the window wouldn’t have been this crazy. Virgil disregarded the thought of running away from the two thieves, since he had the crown on him and would probably be thought of an accomplice or something of the sort if he were to be seen with it. Had the two even noticed that the crown wasn’t with them? 

Everything was going fine until the three of them made it to a cliff like place; that was when the guards caught up with them. There were so many (really, there was really four of them but it was a lot of guards and they outnumbered the three men stuck on the side of the cliff). 

“We’ve got you now, thieves!” One of the them (he appeared to be wearing glasses) yelled out as all of the four guards drew their swords. How were three unarmed men supposed to fight four armed guards? They don’t, that’s how. 

“I’ve got an idea!” Roman yelled out as he reached into his backpack (had he always been wearing one and Virgil just hadn’t noticed or had Roman been given one from the bartender or something?) and pulled out a frying pan. How was that supposed to help them? If anything, the guards would just laugh and then harm someone! 

“How is a frying pan supposed to help?” Virgil questioned, very confused on the situation at hand. Not only had the guards been after the two travelers that Virgil had been traveling with but now Roman was going to attack them; with a frying pan. 

Roman laughed as he smacked a sword away from a guard. “You knocked me out with one, did you not?” Another smack and another guard down. “I’m going to buy us some time!” 

Patton had been awfully quiet, until he gasped. “There’s a rope, we can use that to get down!” 

Roman had knocked down the last guard. “Good, let’s go!” 

“Not so fast!” Apparently, the guard who was wearing the glasses had gotten up and gotten his sword back. So now there was another guard that Roman had to defeat, again. Virgil was still very confused and nervous about what was happening. What would happen if the guard defeated Roman? Would all three of them go to jail? 

Patton had grabbed onto Virgil by the waist (something Virgil felt very uncomfortable with) and ran off the cliff, scaring Virgil half to death before they both landed safely on the ground. The frying pan Roman was using was knocked to the ground, and Virgil watched as Patton threw the rope up towards the cliff the two of them had just jumped off of. Roman appeared on the ground with the two others not long after that. 

“Run!” Roman yelled as he grabbed his frying pan and began to run towards a cave. “The rope had been connected to the dam and it fell, there’s going to be water everywhere!” Virgil didn’t have time to answer before he was pulled into the cave with the other two.

There was a crash, and darkness surrounded the cave. They had become trapped, with water filling up the cave from the cracks the rock had left. 

“Why was running into a cave a good idea?” Virgil yelled out as he felt the water rise past his feet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, a perspective that wasn't Roman or Virgil! XD 
> 
> I have no idea how long this is going to be, wish me luck that it goes past twenty thousand words because that's what I'm aiming for. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed!


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would ya look at that, I got this chapter out faster than the others! Only by a day but whatever; at least I haven't fallen into my old habit of not posting another chapter for six months.

Virgil pounded on the rocks that made up the cave, hoping to find a way out. He was not dying like this, no way he was. Not only had Virgil not said bye to Deceit but he still hadn’t seen the lanterns up close (not that that really matter at a time like this). The water had made it past Virgil’s knees and was getting higher every second, and the darkness was not helping in trying to find a way out. Everyone was trying to find a way out - everyone being just Virgil, Roman, and Patton; that was everyone after all. 

Virgil gasped and pulled his hand away from the rocks, having scrapped it against one of the rocks with a sharp edge. “I am really regretting leaving that tower now, ‘speically since I’m probably gonna die,” Virgil muttered as he began to search for another way out once more. It was pointless, really, there wasn’t a way to remove the giant rock in front of the entrance and even if there was all the water would just come crashing in. The three of them were going to die. 

Virgil was about to give up when the water made it to his chin, only to stop to think about what was happening. If Virgil could find an opening or something under the water maybe - just maybe - the rocks would be easier to move now that the water had almost fully filled the cave. Virgil ducked his head under the water, only to be pulled up by Patton and Roman.

“I’ve already tried that, it’s pitch black down there,” Roman explained, looking down at the raising water. Roman’s hands had been on Virgil’s shoulders, much like Deceit’s had all those years ago when he asked Virgil if he could do anything that Virgil had only read in stories. Deceit had barely touched Virgil otherwise. Why was Virgil thinking about that now? Was it because Virgil didn’t want to die because he wanted to see his brother or was it something else? 

Virgil let out a soft laugh before the water could cover his mouth. Just a moment ago he had been mumbling about dying in this cave because there was no way out and now he didn’t want to die in said unescapable cave. Virgil just really wished there was some light, and maybe something to destroy the rocks that blocked the way outside; surely there was another exit to this cave. 

Virgil hadn’t even noticed that the water that had now filled to the top of the cave had begun to glow purple until after Roman had gasped (under water no less, meaning he probably wouldn’t last much longer). Without really thinking about it, Virgil looked around anything that could be an exit and, right next to Roman no less, there was something sucking the water out. Virgil swam towards it (he didn’t know how he did that, since he had never went swimming before) and raised his hand to start moving the rocks. It didn’t take long as the rocks fell to dust after Virgil touched them. 

The three of them were pulled out of the cave, falling into a fast moving river as the rocks crumbled around them. The water that was stuck in the cave falling out into the river, making it move faster than it had been before, meaning Virgil had an even harder time getting out. Not only could Virgil not touch the bottom of the river he couldn’t swim. Patton seemed to notice this and helped him get to the side of river, allowing Virgil to grab onto the grass. 

“You’re hair glows,” Roman mumbled as he stared at Virgil. Roman seemed both amazed and confused as to why Virgil’s hair glowed. Who wouldn’t?

“My hair glows,” Virgil repeated, slightly confused and slightly amazed just like Roman. It was mostly just confusion for Virgil though. Why did Virgil’s hair glow? This had never happened before! Was it because he had left the tower? Why did Virgil’s hair even glow and why did the rocks crumble into dust instead of being moved out of the way? 

“We’re alive!” Patton yelled out as he punched the air after lying down onto his back. “We’ll alive!” Patton repeated since no one else seemed to be up to it. Roman and Virgil were still confused as to why Virgil’s hair glowed. Once again, who wouldn’t be confused and surprised as to why someone’s hair glowed? 

“Why does my hair glow?” Virgil yelled out in confusion and frustration, throwing his arms up into the air as he did so. “Not only that but I destroyed the rocks just by touching them! How does that even happen? Am I a demon or something?” Virgil’s hand begun to sting, probably from the air getting in the wound or even the grass, making him wince at the pain. Virgil had never actually gotten hurt before, other than a couple of trips down the stairs once more twice when he got up in the middle of the night to go to the washroom or get a snack. 

Patton had gotten up and grabbed onto Virgil’s injured hand, examining it. “You’re not a demon, Kiddo,” Patton explained as he slid his hand into his bag (had Patton been always wearing a bag as well? Had Virgil just not been paying attention, probably) and pulling out what looked like a bandage. Patton begun to wrap the bandage around Virgil’s hand. “You’re just-” Patton paused, probably searching for a good word to use. “You’re just unique, just because your hair glows or you can destroy stuff by touching it doesn’t mean you’re a demon,” Patton explained as he completed wrapping Virgil’s wound. 

Roman sat up, staring at the water now instead of Virgil. “It’s cool that your hair glows! Just means no one else is like you; not only do you have purple hair but it can glow!” Roman’s excitement didn’t seem to work all that well on Virgil, Virgil didn’t really want to be unique, it meant others weren’t like him and that could mean that they wouldn’t like him; probably. 

Virgil stood up, brushing his pants off. “We should probably make camp or something,” Virgil explained, the sun was going down now that they had gotten out of the cave and the general shock of almost dying and finding out that your hair could glow was wearing off; just a little bit. Virgil did not want to be put in that position again. 

Roman cleared his throat. “Yeah, that would probably be a good idea.” 

The three of them wandered a little before setting up camp, trying not to be close to the river in case it overflowed. All while trying to sleep, Virgil couldn’t help but think that this is why Deceit had told him all about the outside world like that; apparently his hair could glow and he had magic powers, who wouldn’t want that? Despite the two of them being thieves though, Virgil didn’t feel like they would do what Deceit had told Virgil everyone would do; kidnap and harm him. It was really only Virgil who had harmed Roman, and that was only once with a frying pan to the head. From what Virgil had heard, Roman and Patton’s only crime was actually stealing the crown that Virgil currently had out in front of him. Both Roman and Patton had gone to sleep hours ago, but Virgil couldn’t seem to fall asleep (that was probably because of all the thoughts running through his head). 

“Oh, Virgil,” A voice sung out, causing Virgil to sit up and look around. There, behind a couple of trees and hidden behind their shadows, was Deceit. Deceit’s voice didn’t sound happy or sad that Virgil had left the tower, it just sounded normal; if that made any sense. Deceit sighed as he got closer to Virgil. “You really shouldn’t have stayed in your tower.” Virgil titled his head slightly, Deceit seemed annoyed or something but he was telling Virgil that he should have  _ not  _ stayed in the tower? That had been the exact same thing Deceit had told Virgil before telling him the dangers of the outside world again. What was it, Opposite Day everyday for Deceit or something? Everything that Deceit had told Virgil always seemed to be wrong. The outside world, the fact that people would always try to harm him in some way, just everything. 

Oh. Deceit had never told Virgil a single truth, had he? It had all just been lies, hadn’t it? 

“Virgil?” Deceit knocked Virgil out of his thoughts, seeing that the man dressed in black was now directly in front of him. “Let’s go back to our home now, okay?” Deceit had placed his hand on Virgil’s shoulder, almost as if he was trying to be comforting. “I’m not mad at you. I promise.” 

Virgil yanked his shoulder away from Deceit. “I don’t want to go back home.” Virgil stared at Deceit, looking for anything that seemed to scream that the man in front of him was actually lying. That he was mad at Virgil for leaving; Virgil could tell if he was lying to him or not. 

“Why do you not want to not go back home?” Deceit’s sentence seemed to be twisted, almost as if there were one too many words in there but Virgil didn’t catch that. Only hearing the one word that actually belonged; that wasn’t enough for Virgil to believe Deceit wasn’t lying though. 

“I’ve made friends,” Virgil pointed out towards the two men who were currently snoozing away the night. Allowing Deceit and Virgil to have their private conversation but still being in the camp. 

Deceit touched the crown lightly. “Friends who only want the crown you currently hold?” 

Virgil shook his head. “They would’ve said something about them missing it if they only wanted the crown. Besides, they were the ones who asked me to come with them, not the other way around.” Virgil took the crown back and placed it under his jacket that he had taken off to go to sleep. Virgil didn’t like the look Deceit seemed to be giving it, almost as if the man dressed in black would take it away from Virgil at any moment. 

Deceit frowned. “Come crawling back to me when you learn their lying since you think you can handle this all by yourself.” Deceit was gone as quick as he had appeared, leaving Virgil in a state of confusion. Virgil didn’t think he could do this all on his own, he didn’t know the way to the village and he certainly couldn’t have gotten this far had it not been for Roman and Patton. Virgil couldn’t think if Deceit had always been lying to him or not yet; it was just so confusing. 

Roman seemed to yawn as he flipped over, his eyes opening just a little but enough to see that Virgil was sitting up. “Virgil, are you alright?” Roman sleepily asked as he rubbed his eyes from the sleep. 

Virgil nodded. “I’m fine.” That was a lie, he had a headache from all the questions roaming around in his mind. “Just go back to sleep.” 

Roman frowned. “You don’t look fine.” Virgil wasn’t even aware that he looked any different than when he did normally. “You look like you’ve got something running through your mind. I’m not as good at this as Patton is, but if you want, you can talk to me about it. I’m sure Patton would offer help to but he sleeps like the dead.” Roman let out a laugh, getting one out of Virgil as well. 

Could Virgil tell the situation to Roman? Would that be a good idea? What if Roman thought of Virgil’s worry as something dumb? Ah! Even more questions that were giving Virgil a headache, and he hated it! Why does so many questions have to give one a headache? Why did questions even have to cause headaches? That just seems dumb! 

Virgil groaned. “What would you say if someone you knew had been lying to you the whole time you’ve known them but you didn’t know if they were actually lying or if it was just their way of talking-”

“Woah,” Roman stopped Virgil, “you’re talking a bit too fast for me to understand, Virgil, slow down a bit please?” 

“What would you do - or say - if someone you knew you believed to be lying to you the whole entire time you’ve known them?” Virgil questioned, lying back down as he stared at the stars above. He had never really gotten a good look at the stars above him, only slightly ahead of him, in the tower since the roof blocked those. They looked the exact same. 

Roman frowned once more but stayed silent. Virgil was really hoping that Roman wasn’t thinking that it was Virgil who was lying. “I’m beginning to think that this is about your brother,” Roman announced after a couple of minutes, making Virgil let out a sigh that he didn’t know he had. “Personally, if I thought that someone I knew had been lying to me the whole time I would confront them, ask them why they were lying. I would be mad at them of course and if they had a bad reason I probably wouldn’t forgive them,” Roman explained as he moved closer to Virgil. 

“What if they had a good reason?”

Roman hummed. “If they had a good reason I would still be mad at them for some time but I would probably forgive them after a while. Don’t know how long it would take but I’d forgive ‘em eventually.” Roman yawned as he laid next to Virgil. “Night, Virgil.”

Virgil didn’t say it back to Roman. Eventually, Virgil fell asleep, though, he had no idea at what time. 

 

“Hey! Put me down!” Virgil awoke to Roman yelling at someone. Had Patton thought it to be funny to pick up Roman while he was still sleeping? 

“Let him go!” Patton yelled out. Okay, so it wasn’t Patton who had picked up Roman, it was someone else. Had Deceit come back and decided that he didn’t want to wait for Virgil to come back home so he kidnapped his friends? No, that was just weird. 

“No, I will not let the thief go. Both of you have evaded arrest, twice! You are to come with me to the castle so that the king and queen may choose your punishment.” Virgil didn’t recognize the voice all that much but he could’ve sworn he had heard it before the cave started to flood. Virgil looked up, only to see a guy holding Roman by his feet; Roman’s head touching the ground. Wasn’t this the guard that had tried to fight Roman twice before the three of them jumped off the cliff? 

Virgil yawned. “What is going on? I just woke up and now there’s a lot of yelling.” Virgil rubbed the sleep away from his eyes, trying not to freak out too much. There was a guard here and he was here to take Roman and Patton away, would he take Virgil away too? Sure, Virgil hadn’t done anything but be in the tower for sixteen years but he had been holding onto the crown that Roman and Patton had stolen. 

“Who are you? The person their sold the crown to?” The guard questioned, staring at Virgil as he held Roman upside down. 

Virgil shook his head. “I don’t think that job would work out for me, being in a tower for sixteen years really cuts you off from socialization.” 

“Virgil, this is no time for jokes!” Roman yelled out, “Make him put me down!” The guard seeming dropped Roman, making the thief fall onto his head. “Oh, great, first I get hit in the head by a frying pan in that darn tower and now I landed on my head; if I didn’t have a concussion, I surely do now!” Roman mumbled as he started to stand up. 

“Thank you for putting him down, you could’ve done it nicely though.” Patton had helped Roman up. 

The guard didn’t seem to be paying attention to the two men who had stolen the crown only a day ago. “What are these two to you?” The guard questioned, pointing to the two thieves while looking at Virgil. Why was he asking Virgil a question? It wasn’t like Virgil was a really interesting person.  

Virgil shrugged. “Friends, I guess? I’ve only really known them for a day really, like I said, being in that tower for sixteen years I didn’t really have anyone to really talk to other than my brother,” Virgil explained, grabbing his jacket (keeping the crown hidden within it) and putting it on. “They’re taking me to the town since I don’t really know the way so I can see the lanterns.” 

“Aw, you think of us as friends?” Patton questioned, sounding very surprised and happy. Virgil only nodded at him, making Patton squeal for some odd reason. 

“Why do you want to see the lanterns? What significance do they have to you?” Why does this guard ask so many questions? Virgil just really wanted to see them, is that so bad? 

“They come out on my birthday and every year at that, I’ve only really wanted to see ‘em up close since I’ve only seen them from far away in my tower.” Virgil was really starting to get annoyed at this guard’s questions. Seriously, who needed to ask that many questions to someone that wasn’t all that important? No one, that’s who. 

“It’s your birthday tomorrow? If I had known I would’ve gotten you a gift!” Patton exclaimed, making Virgil smile if only a little. 

Virgil shrugged. “That’s what Deceit would tell me. The lanterns came out on my birthday and all that.” 

“The lanterns come out tonight,” The guard explained, “so that would mean your birthday is today.” 

Virgil chuckled, “Guess that means I’m finally eighteen.” 

“Well, since they’re coming out tonight, we should start heading to the town!” Roman seemed to suggest the idea that they should leave the camp, either to avoid arrest or to just allow Virgil to see the lanterns. Roman had started to pack up his stuff.

The guard seemed silent for a moment, probably thinking about if he was going to arrest Roman and Patton or not. The guard finally sighed, “As soon as it’s tomorrow I am bringing you two in.” Virgil heard the guard mutter something but he couldn’t tell what he had said. 

“Yay!” Patton squealed - he seemed to be doing that a lot - and began to pack up his own stuff. “Thanks Logan!” 

Virgil blinked. “You two know each other?” 

Patton laughed, “No, his name is on his little chest armor thingy!” Patton pointed out. 

Logan stayed quiet as the three of them packed up their stuff. Virgil didn’t mind, he had Patton and Roman to talk to while packing up; it was mostly just asking questions as to where everything should be if Virgil wanted everything to fit properly. Besides, Roman and Patton were enough people to talk to for Virgil. Logan didn’t seem too bad though, and if Virgil spent a little more time with the guard he may even like Logan enough to talk to him more. Virgil seems to be meeting a lot of people on this little adventure of his; first it was Roman and Patton, then the people at the pub (Virgil hadn’t really gotten their names), and now Logan. Surprisingly enough, a lot of bad things had happened, like almost drowning in that cave that seemed to only happened hours ago (it almost felt like it had been way longer).

The four of them left the little campsite, putting out the fire they had started (Virgil suspected that Patton and Roman had made it earlier in the morning since he didn’t remember it). Roman and Logan seemed to fight a lot, something about the one not being logical enough (Roman had attempted to climb a tree to see if he could see the castle from where they were and Logan had told him the trees weren’t tall enough) though Patton and Logan seemed to get along well enough. The three of them had tried to get Virgil into the conversations no matter what it was; even if it was just a boring question like what his favourite food was or if Roman wasn’t being logical enough. Virgil had actually laughed a couple of times on their way to the village (Virgil had realized he had never learned the name of said village but didn’t bother asking). 

Virgil jaw dropped at the size of the castle when he first saw it; it was definitely bigger than the tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was tempted to cut it off before Virgil and the others met Logan but nah, have some more characters I don't know if I'm writing correctly :P
> 
> I also have a feeling that next chapter may be the last for this, but I'll probably do another Disney movie soon enough XD; I've actually gotten some of the stuff for the Beauty and The Beast one already so that'll probably be the next one!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap this thing is long, it's double what I usually write! It's also the last chapter before the epilogue. I also realized that I haven't done Roman's POV since - like - the first or second chapter, so have a bunch of his thoughts and stuff. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Virgil had never seen so many people in one place before, there was way more than there had been in the pub. Not only that but there was also children, the only child Virgil had ever seen had been himself in the mirror when he was younger. There were people trying to sell stuff and people trying to get stuff for free, it was all so new. Virgil loved it but hated it at the same time; if that made any sense. Virgil loved it because that meant so many things could actually happen - like getting different books - but Virgil hated it because it was just so many people that could potentially hate him for messing something up - like falling on top of someone because he tripped or something. Oh gosh, why did there have to be so many people?

“So, how this for your first visit?” Patton yelled over the chatter of the many people; that was another thing Virgil hated, it was so loud. Too many people talking amongst themselves making it too loud for others to hear some and that just made everyone yell. Virgil was surprised there wasn’t a lot of people just nodding along because they had lost their voice or something from all the yelling they had done.

“It’s loud,” Virgil answered, straight to the point and not avoiding anything. That was basically all that this village was; a loud cluster of people just trying to be heard.

Patton nodded. “How about we go somewhere quieter than this then?” Virgil just nodded and allowed Patton to grab onto his hand and lead him to wherever Patton wanted to go. Roman and Logan followed quietly behind Patton and Virgil.

\---

Oh gosh why did emotions have to be so confusion? Ah! Now Roman can’t even think of a properly worded sentence because of it! Roman silently sighed as he watched Patton lead Virgil to a quieter area since the purple haired man had seemed to have gotten overwhelmed at all the noise; Roman understood though, the noisiest place Virgil had probably been to was the pub and it was much quieter. Speaking of Virgil, that was probably why Roman’s emotions were acting so weirdly. Sure, Roman had just met the quiet man with the (somehow) glowing hair and the power to destroy objects, but Roman’s emotions didn’t seem to care. Roman was starting to like Virgil; as in a more than a friend kind of way. Why was Roman’s brain like this? First it was Patton when Roman had first met him (that had gone away after a year though since Roman had begun to see the optimistic man as more of a friend/brother) and now it was Virgil!

Logan nudged Roman in the shoulder. “Are you thinking about it too?” Oh gosh, had Logan already fallen for Virgil or something? Why had he asked that question?

Roman decided just to play it off as if he had no idea what Logan was talking about. “Thinking about what?” That way, if Logan had been asking it for a different thing Roman wouldn’t look ridiculous.

“How Virgil may be the missing prince; the one that went missing sixteen years ago because he was kidnapped,” Logan explained as they made their way through the many people crowding the central area of the village. Roman didn’t get it and from his expression Logan seemed to get that as well. Logan sighed, “Virgil explained that he hasn’t seen anything outside his tower for sixteen years, the same amount of time that the prince has been missing, and both him and the kidnapped prince share the same name. It could hardly be a coincidence, don’t you think?” That seemed impossible but at the same time, very possible. Roman was still slightly confused, how could Virgil and the missing prince sharing the name and both being gone from civilization for sixteen years be related in anyway? How had Logan even come up with that theory? “Maybe I should ask why Virgil _knows_ he’s been in his tower for sixteen years?” Logan begun to mumble to himself, leaving Roman in the dark about his plans. Roman didn’t mind, he still had to wrap this whole thing around his head.

The four men had made it to a slightly smaller area in the village that still had a lot of space; not as many people where there as there was back in the center. Roman found that Virgil looked more comfortable here than he had back in the center. Virgil even looked happy and Roman could tell that the purple haired man had a slight smile on his face. Roman couldn’t help but think Virgil looked really cute with that smile. Roman realized that there was music played, even though it was quiet, and got an idea. Something that would hopefully make Virgil even more happy.

Roman walked up beside Virgil, turning to face the purple haired man and then held out his hand. “Would you care to dance with me?”

Virgil blinked a couple times. “I don’t know how,” He admitted.

“Well, how about I teach you then?” Virgil only gently took Roman’s hand, Roman took that as a yes. “Just follow my lead.”

Roman gently moved Virgil’s other hand so that it was on Roman’s shoulder, placing his own free hand on Virgil’s waist and then raising their hands. The music had turned slow (well, there goes Roman’s idea of making Virgil have fun while doing a fast paced dance) and so, Roman begun to listen to it to get the beat. Soon enough, the two of them started to move around the small area, being careful not to bump into any of the people. Roman swore that he could hear Patton squeal when they had passed the optimistic man while dancing. Roman was glad that no one else was watching them dance though, he had a feeling that Virgil may have not been all that comfortable with that; he didn’t seem like the one to like people watching him do things.

Soon enough, the music changed once more and Virgil let go of Roman, stopping the two of them from dancing even more. Roman had enjoyed dancing with Virgil and only hoped that Virgil had liked it as well, otherwise, that would be kind of awkward.

“That was fun,” Virgil announced as the two of them walked away from the middle of the small area. “I liked it. Think we could do that again one day? Maybe you could come visit me in the tower.” Well, that was certainly not the reaction that Roman had thought he would get. Roman was actually speechless for once in his life.

“That was so cute!” Patton announced as he walked up to the two of them, Logan following not far behind. The guard probably just wanted to watch Roman and Patton to make sure they didn’t run away or anything. Roman blushed a little at what Patton had said, he hadn’t meant for them both to be cute, only really Virgil with that little smile of his. “So,” Patton cleared the silence that there was, “what are we gonna do now? There’s still some time left before they let the lanterns go!”

Virgil shrugged. “I don’t really care, honestly.”

Patton smiled. “How about we go to my favourite bakery then? We could get cupcakes or something!”

Virgil nodded. “That sounds good.” That little smile of Virgil’s was even more noticeable beside him, Roman noticed and couldn’t help but smile back. Seriously, why did Virgil have to be so adorably cute? Why did Roman’s brain have to work like this? It was very annoying, especially since Roman only knew a little about what Virgil liked and all that.

\---

The bakery was only slightly crowded when Virgil and the others got there, it was still very loud but not as much so as the first place Virgil had been in had been. It wasn’t too bad, Patton and Roman were still right beside Virgil and if he needed to he could just walk outside. Virgil had realized he didn’t really like the loud noises from all the people chatting about, he’d much rather be in a quiet place with barely any people. There was less of a chance for Virgil to mess anything up when there were less people. Eventually, Virgil did have to leave from getting a headache from all the people in the bakery, leaving Patton to get what Virgil wanted. Patton had said that he didn’t mind that Virgil needed to leave but Virgil still felt a little bad about it. Logan had followed Virgil out, probably because there was really only one door and the windows were only in front so if Roman and Patton did want to run away they’d have to get past Logan first. Virgil was actually surprised that no one had recognized Roman from the wanted posters. Virgil could hear the nosiness of the inside of the bakery even outside though, but it was muffled, so it helped; if only a little.

“So,” Logan started as if he wanted to ask a question. He just seems to be full of them, Roman and Patton hadn’t asked this many questions when they had met Virgil. “Do you know why you were in your tower for sixteen years? Most people would just say as long as they could remember but you just said the year.”

Virgil shrugged, Deceit had always told him that he had gotten to the tower when he was two; in his mind, Virgil always hoped that after a certain amount of years he would be allowed to go outside. “Deceit - my brother - just told me I got there when I was two. He did mention that he had brought me there because people had tried to kidnap me before, but now, I’m sort of questioning on if what he had said was true. Everyone I’ve met’s only been nice to me, you’re the only one that really did anything bad and that was just scaring me a little,” Virgil explained, watching the door for when Patton and Roman left the bakery. Virgil still didn’t trust Logan all that much so he didn’t exactly feel comfortable talking with him alone.

Logan hummed. “Would your brother lie to you often while you lived in your tower?” This almost felt like it was an interrogation from one of Virgil’s books, and those usually ended badly for those being questioned. It didn’t seem to be like that for Virgil though, it almost seemed as if Logan was concerned for him; Logan almost seemed as if he was searching for anything that could get Virgil out of Deceit’s hands (of course, Virgil could do that himself now, he was eighteen now).

Virgil stayed quiet, he was still trying to figure out if Deceit had been lying to him this whole time or not. Another thing that Virgil was trying to figure out was if he should eventually forgive Deceit if he had been lying to Virgil. Why did life have to be so complicated for Virgil?

“Hey, Virgil, you okay there kiddo? You’re kinda staring off into the distance,” Patton questioned as he stepped in front of Virgil, a pastry in Patton’s hand that was held out to Virgil.

Virgil gently took the pastry after snapping out of his thoughts. “I’m fine, don’t worry.” Virgil paused. “Just thinking is all.”

“Well, if you need anyone to talk to, you can always talk to me!” Patton announced, a smile on his face now that Virgil had told the optimistic man that nothing was the matter. Patton seemed to really care about those around him, even if he hadn’t known them for long. Patton seemed to be like that great friend that everyone had in the books that Virgil would read; the one that cared a lot and would put themself in danger if it meant protecting their friend. Virgil didn’t like the second part as much as the first though.

The four of the walked around the quieter parts of the town while eating their pastries, and seeing as Patton had gotten more than one, that lasted quite a bit. Virgil could swear (Patton probably wouldn’t like that though) that they had circled around more than once; they had probably been avoiding the nosier parts of town. Virgil’s feet were killing him though, he hadn’t walked this much before seeing as the only place he could really walk was a circle in the tower. Virgil had enjoyed the day so far, even going as far as to say it was his favourite birthday yet; probably because all the other birthdays he’s had had been spent alone. Deceit had always been out searching for something (Virgil had never really known what and why Deceit left) on Virgil’s birthday and always returned late into the night. It was almost as if Deceit didn’t want to know that it was Virgil’s birthday or something.

The sun had started to go down to allow the moon to come out and show the stars; which meant that the king and queen would be releasing the lanterns soon. For some odd reason Roman lead Virgil (Patton had explained that he wanted to take Logan somewhere) towards the docks, where a small pond (or lake, Virgil couldn’t really tell) was. There sat a little boat big enough for two people tied to the dock, how long had Roman been planning this and was Patton and Logan in on it too? If anything Virgil thought that from all this that Roman would like him- oh. That is exactly what Roman was doing. The dance and now the boat, Roman was trying to show Virgil that he liked him. Well, that kind of sucks for Roman because Virgil’s brain didn’t work like that and Virgil had to actually get to know the person before beginning to like him. Oh gosh, now Virgil would have to tell Roman that and that may ruin the friendship they have at the moment. Unless this was just for Roman to show that he thought of Virgil as a really good friend, then everything would be fine. Virgil had never expected relationships to be so hard.

“How are you feeling?” Roman questioned as he pushed the boat away from the dock.

Virgil blinked, not noticing how he had been zoning out and escaping into his thoughts. “I’m absolutely terrified.” Well, that’s one way to say what’s on your mind; not even realize you had said anything until after you said it.

“Well, that’s no good. What’s making you feel like that?”

“Everything,” Virgil explained, almost half tempted to raise his arms into the air and wave them around but he didn’t want to seem foolish. “I’m terrified that my brother has been lying to me this whole time; I’m terrified that after this I’m go back to the tower and I’ll be alone again; I’m terrified that I’ll never talk to you, or Patton, or - heck! - even Logan ever again!”

“I will not let the last two happen,” Roman announced, “The first thing though, is that why you asked me what I would do if someone lied to me last night?” Virgil nodded. “Well, how about we sing?”

Virgil blinked. “What? Why?”

Roman shrugged. “Singing always helped me calm down and let my thoughts organize themselves. Maybe it’ll do that for you!” Roman had suggested the most fairy tale-ish thing that Virgil had ever heard.

Virgil wanted to laugh, to say that that probably wouldn’t work, but he didn’t. Instead, Virgil shrugged. “I could try, singing’s not exactly something I’m good at.”

Roman smiled. “There’s always something someone’s not the best at but it doesn’t mean their the worst.”

Virgil took a sharp intake of breath. “ _All those days watching from the windows / All those those years outside looking in / All that time never even knowing / Just how blind I’ve been / Now I’m here, blinking in the starlight / Now I’m here, suddenly I see / Standing here, it’s all so clear / I’m where I’m meant to be / And at last I see the light / And it’s light the fog has lifted / And at last I see the light / And it’s like the sky is new / And it’s warm and real and bright / And the world has somehow shifted / All at once everything looks different._ ” Virgil had not expected to get that far, expecting Roman to stop him after the first verse or something. Instead, Roman was just sitting across from him, two purple lanterns floating above his hands.

Roman handed one of the lanterns to Virgil. “That wasn’t bad at all, you know. You’re actually pretty good at it.” Roman smiled. “What song was that anyways? I’ve never heard it before.”

“I just made up the lyrics, it’s supposed to sound like the song we danced to,” Virgil explained as he stared at the lantern currently resting on his hand. This was much different from what Virgil could only see from his window in the tower.

The two of them let the lanterns fly; Virgil watching them until they blended into the other lanterns that had been set free. There were so many of the purple lanterns, all of the dancing around and bumping into each other from the wind. Virgil had never thought that there had been this many before from looking out at them from the tower. He had never actually known why the lanterns were being set free either, at least, until Roman and Patton had told Virgil when they had first met. Virgil almost laughed; that had been two days ago and he didn’t want to lose them even though he barely knew them. Who knew that making friends with two strangers that had broken into the tower would have been so fun and exciting, and even scary at the same time. Virgil certainly didn’t and Virgil had no idea if Roman didn’t too. There was one thing that Virgil knew though, that this had been the best three days of his life.

Virgil started to take the crown - that he had kept in his jacket - out, he should probably give it to Roman now. Maybe if Roman gave it back to the king and the queen him and Patton would be let off the hook; or, at least, have less of a punishment since they did break into the castle as well. “I probably should’ve given you this back when I first got it, but here.” Virgil held out the crown for Roman to take. “Maybe it’ll give you and Patton less of a punishment or something, I don’t know how that actually works to be honest.”

Roman smiled at Virgil but didn’t take the crown. “I couldn’t care less about that. You should give it back, maybe they’ll give you reward money or something and you can get out of your tower.”

“Yeah, getting out of the tower would be good,” Virgil agreed, “but I wouldn’t want to do that if it meant I didn’t get to hang out with you.”

“You know, I’ve never really heard you call it your tower.”

Virgil shrugged. “I don’t really see it as my tower, it more of just a tower I live in.”

Soon enough, the two of them headed back to the shore. Docking their boat off before going off to search for Patton and Logan, wherever the two had gone while Roman and Virgil were off talking alone in the boat. Virgil wondered if they had released their own lanterns like Roman and him did. Where had Roman even gotten the lanterns from? Virgil certainly didn’t seem them when they got on the boat or when Roman had been rowing into the middle of the pond (lake? Virgil still didn’t know).

The loud, “You are under arrest!” snapped Virgil out of his thoughts.

There were five guards that surrounded Roman and Virgil, all with their swords pointed more towards Roman than Virgil. Had Logan told the other guards where Roman would be? No, Logan didn’t even know if they had left the pond yet, surely. Whoever had told the guards where Roman would be was answered when _he_ stepped forward and latched onto Virgil.

“Oh my gosh, I am so glad you’re safe!” Deceit yelled out, hugging Virgil to almost to death. “After you got kidnapped I couldn’t just sit around and see if you got out on your own!” Kidnapped? Virgil had left by himself, why would he be kidnapped? Then it clicked, Deceit was lying. Deceit was always lying; this was what told Virgil that. Deceit hadn’t wanted Virgil to leave the tower, he - for some odd reason - had told Virgil to leave because he couldn’t speak the truth. Everything Deceit had said was a lie, he didn’t care about Virgil, Deceit didn’t care if Virgil got kidnapped. Which meant, that the reason why Virgil had been stuck in the tower for sixteen years was a lie as well; why had Virgil been in the tower then?

Virgil sent Roman an unspoken message that Virgil hoped looked like, “Please help, this guy has been lying to me the whole time and I think he kidnapped me or something.” How was Roman supposed to help though, he was being arrested for stealing the crown and for, supposedly, kidnapping Virgil. Seriously, how dumb are these guards? They couldn’t see that Virgil actually liked spending time with Roman.

“Let’s not go back to the house, just yet, hm?” _Let’s go back to your prison now._ How had Virgil never realized that everything Deceit was saying was the opposite of what he wanted to say? Now that Virgil had thought about it, it was so obvious. Deceit lied about how the outside world was and that contradicted with Deceit telling Virgil to leave the tower. “Don’t worry, he won’t be killed.” _Worry, Roman was going to be killed._ Roman was going to be killed and it was all Virgil’s fault.

Virgil froze, unable to do anything but watch as Roman was walked away by the guards and Deceit lead Virgil out of the village. How was Virgil supposed to stop Deceit when he was so surprised that Deceit had been lying this whole time to even function?

 

\---

 

Roman had saw how Virgil froze, how it looked like the purple haired man couldn’t do anything. Roman had saw the look that Virgil had given one that just screamed help; yet, Roman couldn’t do anything as he was tied down by the guards. Virgil’s brother - Deceit, Roman was sure that that was the man’s name - had taken him back to the tower, and by the sounds of it, Virgil wasn’t going to be able to leave. Oh gosh, Roman had to help, he had to help Virgil.

Roman began to struggle against the guards as they started to walk him towards the prison (or what Roman believed to be the prison). “You don’t get it! He was the kidnapper, he kidnapped Virgil! He lies!” Roman yelled out, hoping someone would hear him. If only Logan - the ridiculous man who thought Virgil was the missing prince that may just be right - was near, he would believe Roman.

Roman broke free from the guard’s grasp, running as fast as he could with his hands tied together, trying to find Logan. Logan would be with Patton, and Patton was easy to spot. All Roman had to do was search for someone wearing a bright blue shirt. What a coincidence that Patton and Logan hadn’t been far from where Roman had broken free from the guards. Roman would have to be fast though, the guards would surely find him soon.

“Logan!” Roman called out, “Virgil- he’s been taken back to the tower! Deceit - whatever his brother’s actual name is - took him back! Patton knows the way!” One of the guards tackled Roman to the ground.

“Logan!” One of the guards called out, “Do you know this man?”

Logan pushed Patton behind him slightly, almost to tell the optimistic man no. Logan shook his head. “No. I don’t.” Logan lied. Roman knew why, if Logan had told the truth all three of them would be thrown in prison. “What are you to do with him?”

The guard who had tackled Roman tightened his grip. “He’s to be in jail ‘til tomorrow, then he’s to be executed for kidnapping a man, stealing the missing prince’s crown and breaking into the castle.” Oh gosh, Roman was going to die. Virgil must think this all his fault since it had been Deceit who had told the guards where they were.

Roman felt a sharp pain at the back of his head - had someone hit him or something? - and his head fell down. Roman had blacked out, damn guards knocked him unconscious. Probably so he wouldn’t run away again.

 

Roman woke up, his back and head killing him. Of course, he was in a cell lying on the ground that was covered with straw - hey, at least the guards were nice enough to do that. Roman got up (too fast, making his eyes blurry but he didn’t care) and punched the side of the wall; Virgil was going to be stuck in the tower (Deceit may even move him, who knows) for who knows how long with someone that had (probably) kidnapped him. Virgil had been worried that Deceit had been lying to him and now he could finally figure that out, if he hadn’t already. Hopefully Virgil would be okay until Patton and Logan came to the rescue. Roman didn’t even care he was going to die, as long as Patton and Logan rescued Virgil. Hey, maybe if they’re fast enough they could save Roman from dying (still probably wouldn’t be able to save him from all the punishment though).

Roman had no idea how long it had been before he heard the jingle of keys that made him look at his cell door. There was Logan, keys in hand, switching out the keys every once in a while until Logan got the right one to open the door. Why hadn’t he gone to go get Virgil?

“Patton wouldn’t leave without you and we’re not letting you die,” Logan explained, oh, it seemed Roman had said that outloud. “Now, come on, we’ve got a missing prince to save.”

 

\---

 

Virgil was still frozen when they got back to the tower (Deceit had said the same thing he had always said to get into the tower and Virgil now feared for his life) and rushed to his room before Deceit could say anything to him. That didn’t stop the liar from knocking on Virgil’s door though.

“Virgil, you know I love you, right?” _I hate you._

“Go away!” Virgil yelled, he had to figure some way to get out of here.

“Virgil, I did that to protect you!” _I did that to keep you to myself._

“I don’t want to talk right now so go away, Deceit!”

Deceit sighed, “I’ll be in the kitchen making food.” Virgil had no idea how that was a lie, but it probably was.

Was Virgil even going to be able to leave the tower ever again, even if it was only to go outside the walls and out onto the grass? No, Roman and Patton knew the location of the tower and only Roman (unless Patton had been grabbed after Deceit and Virgil had left) had been arrested; if anything, Deceit had left to go pack the things they needed the most so they could leave the tower and go elsewhere. Virgil was never going to see anyone ever again, was he?

Had what Logan said about Virgil being the lost prince (despite Logan whispering it to Roman, Virgil still overheard, and also thought it crazy at first) been right? Was that the reason Deceit kidnapped him? Had Deceit kidnapped him or had someone sold him to Deceit? Virgil’s questions gave him a headache, much like they had when he had too many questions before. Virgil took a deep breath in, there was really only one way to confirm this and he wasn’t going to get the answer avoiding him. Besides, Virgil was probably never going to be seen again.

Virgil left his room, searching for Deceit, finding him in the living room throwing things into a bag (the kitchen part had been a lie and Virgil had been right about them leaving the tower). Virgil took another deep breath. “I’m the prince who was kidnapped, aren’t I?”

Deceit stopped in the middle of taking down a book and turned to look at Virgil. “Whatever gave you that idea? He was avoiding the question.

“I’m the lost prince who was kidnapped, aren’t I?” Virgil repeated. “And you can only speak in lies, can’t you?”

Deceit laughed, “No, and no.” _Yes, and yes._ “Really Virgil, those are some ridiculous accusations.” _Those accusations are absolutely right._

Virgil collapsed onto the couch. “You kidnapped me when I was younger, didn’t you?”

“Come now, Virgil, stop accusing me of doing stuff I didn’t do.” _I did kidnap you when you were a child._

“Are we leaving the tower?”

“No, seriously, Virgil keep it going with the questions, I absolutely love them.” _Yes, now stop it with the questions, I hate them._ That one had been obvious, Deceit had said it sarcastically.

“Where are we going?”

“Nowhere, Virgil.” _Somewhere._

“Did you know my hair glows when I’m in trouble and I can destroy stuff with my hands?” Virgil questioned, if Deceit did, that was probably why he had kidnapped Virgil.

Deceit laughed, “Oh, totally, I didn’t know you could do anything.” _No, I did know you could do something though._

“How long did it take-”

“Stop asking questions and you won’t die!” Even if it had been the opposite, it still would’ve been the truth. Had Virgil gotten Deceit to his breaking point of trying to say lies?

Virgil scoffed, “You wouldn't kill me. You want me for what I can do.”

Deceit pointed up towards Virgil’s room was. “Go to my room!”

“No.” Oh gosh, what was Virgil doing. Deceit had threatened to kill him already and he may go through with it. Virgil was being an absolute idiot!

Deceit grabbed something from off of the bookshelf, huh, so that’s where they kept the rope. Weird place to keep rope. Virgil couldn’t really do anything as Deceit tackled him to the ground, tying his hands and feet together. Guess Deceit had broken the loving brother persona he had and just gone full blow kidnapper/murderer. Deceit had even gone as far as to put a napkin (a cloth one) in Virgil’s mouth so he couldn’t call for help. Well, saying no to him had been a very bad idea.  

Virgil struggled against the rope, why wasn’t the powers he had figured out he had while he was out working? They should be working, Virgil was in trouble! What had he done to make them work the first time? Oh gosh, what had he done?

“Virgil!” That was Roman’s voice, that was defiantly Roman’s voice. What was Roman doing here? Wasn’t he to be killed?

“I love puppies and kitties!” Patton yelled out, he was at the door, trying to get it to open. Oh gosh, why were they being so loud. Deceit was going to kill them first and then Virgil! Oh, how Virgil really wished he had a way to get out of these-

The ropes fell to ash on Virgil’s wrists. Oh, so all he had to do, was wish, well, that’s good to know. It’s too bad having powers doesn’t come with instructions.

“No, no, no! If Deceit said the door opened to truth, it opens to lies!” Roman yelled out, “I have not fallen in love with Virgil!” Could Roman really go and say he fallen in love with Virgil? Roman’s only known Virgil for three days.

“You haven’t escaped the ropes, great,” Deceit mumbled sarcastically. “I’ll deal with your friends later, right now I need to-” Deceit started to scream as he grabbed onto Virgil.

Virgil’s hair was still glowing purple, meaning that whatever sort of power Virgil had was still activated or something. Virgil raised his hands up to Deceit’s face, watching the lying man crumble to dust, his ashes falling to the floor. Oh gosh, Virgil had just killed someone.

“Virgil!” Virgil heard Roman yell. Had Roman just gotten up the stairs? Had Roman saw the fact that Virgil had just killed Deceit? Did Roman hate him now for killing Deceit?

Virgil saw Roman’s hand go out to reach out to Virgil, making Virgil jump back. “No! I-I don’t want- I don’t-” Oh gosh, when had talking gotten so hard? When had tears started to run down Virgil’s face?

“Virgil, hey, look at me.” Virgil looked up to meet Roman’s brown eyes. “You’re okay, Deceit’s gone now. He’s not going to hurt you anymore.”

“I-I kill- I killed him,” Virgil choked out. Roman pulled Virgil into a hug, which Virgil tried to get out of. “N-No! No! I don’t - oh gosh - I don’t want- no - I don’t want to-” Why wasn’t any sentence coming out right? Why couldn’t Virgil speak properly?

Roman only rubbed Virgil’s back. “Hey, I’m not dying now, am I? I’m fine, you’re not hurting me.” Virgil only collapsed into Roman’s arms, falling to the floor with Roman following. Virgil’s arms shakingly wrapped around Roman’s waist. Virgil hadn’t meant to kill Deceit - the man had raised him even if he had lied to him the whole time - and Virgil certainly didn’t want to kill Roman. Had that been why his powers stopped? Because Virgil didn’t want to kill Roman? Roman had allowed Virgil to cry on his shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re okay now.”

Logan cleared his throat. “I suggest allowing him to calm down before we bring him back to the castle.” Had Logan always been here?

Virgil could feel Roman nod, but Roman didn’t say anything. Virgil only hugged him tighter. Patton seemed to have walked over to the two of them, falling down to hug Virgil as well. It was a little awkward to have two people hugging Virgil at the same time (Virgil couldn’t even remember a time when Deceit had hugged him) but after a little bit of shifting it didn’t seem so awkward. Each of Virgil’s hands were wrapped around Roman and Patton’s waists and Virgil cried between their shoulders.

It was quiet in the tower for a little, only the sounds of Virgil crying echoing off the walls. Logan didn’t join the hug, probably because he didn’t feel as if he should join in; Logan didn’t seem to be the one to really do emotions well. No one had called Virgil any names for crying though, they only hugged him and told him it was okay. Deceit was gone now, but Virgil was sure that he wouldn’t hug Virgil at all if this was happening.

Virgil had no idea how long it had taken him to calm down but he did, Patton had left the hug by that time but Roman didn’t seem to want to let go. Virgil only let out a soft shaky laugh. “You can let go now.”

Roman let go, looking slightly embarrassed as he did. “I - um - yes, I knew that.” Roman let out a small laugh. “I’m glad you’re okay, Virgil.”

“I - um - yeah.” Virgil pulled at the end of his sleeves. “I’m okay now.”

“We should leave now, I’ve told the king and queen that I was helping two - previous - thieves help get their son back. There’s currently many guards waiting outside the tower,” Logan explained as he fixed his glasses. “It is a good thing you are okay, Prince Virgil, we have been searching for you for sixteen years.”

Virgil wrinkled his nose. “Please don’t call me a prince, that sounds nothing like me.”

Logan only nodded.

The four of them left the tower, Virgil saying goodbye to it as he would never return to it again. After everything that had happened in it (being trapped in it for sixteen years and Deceit dying in it) Virgil never wanted to see, or be in, another tower again.

 

The sun had come back out on their way back to the castle and Virgil’s butt hurt from being on a horse for so long. Virgil’s arms also hurt from holding onto Roman’s waist on said horse since there wasn’t one for Virgil to ride (Virgil would only ride with Roman, Patton, or Logan, but Patton was already riding with Logan so that wasn’t really possible. And, Virgil didn’t really know how to ride a horse so, really, it was good that they hadn’t brought one for him). The village early in the morning was quiet, there were still people moving about but there was hardly as many as there had been when Virgil had first entered. Virgil mostly stuck to Roman, Patton and Logan on their way to the castle by foot. Virgil was still debating on what to say to Roman.

Virgil picked at the end of his sleeve. “Roman, about what you said to the door to get in, I-”

“You heard that?” Virgil nodded. “Oh. Um, it’s fine if you don’t return the feelings, Virgil. It was the first thing that popped into my mind and all.”

Virgil only nodded once more. Maybe one day.

 

Virgil was back at picking at his sleeve as he stepped onto the rather large balcony, he was nervous. Who wouldn’t be nervous, Virgil was just about to meet his parents for - from what he can remember - the first time. Virgil cleared his throat, making his parents turn around. “I - um - hi? I don’t really - uh - know what to do in these kinds of situations so - uh - yeah, hello.” Virgil didn’t even need to say anything else as his parents’ tackled him into a hug.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Virgil, trying to be awkward _again_ in a group hug, wrapped his arms around the two people in front of him. “Yeah, me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope I did the singing correctly. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	7. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ending of their story.

And then everyone lived happily ever after.

(Hey, no, you didn’t tell them what happened around a year later!)

Do I really have to? The actual stories done, besides, I’d much rather like to keep my personal life out of this.

(Virgil, this whole story is about you and what you’ve been through, your personal life has already been released to the public.)

Fine, I’ll tell them what happened a year later, or would you like to?

(No, it sounds much better when you say it!) 

(Don’t roll your eyes at me!)

After a year of living happily with my family, I had developed feelings for a certain person who is very,  _ very,  _ dramatic. That person was someone who had helped me figure out that the outside world wasn’t too bad after all - sure, there were a few bad apples here and there, but where wasn’t there. Now, that person’s name was Roman. Funny thing is,  _ I  _ asked  _ him  _ on the first date.

(And now, here we are, two years after all of that went down and we’re about to get married!)

What?

(Oh yeah!)

(Virgil, you’re the love of my life, will you marry me?)

You dork.

(Am I a lovable dork that’s about to marry the love of his life?)

Yes, you idiot. 

(Love you.)

Love you too. 

( _ Did you say it? _ )

Patton! Were you in on this too?

( _ Maybe? _ )

(Yes, he was. So was Logan actually.)

Was I the only one who didn’t know about this?

(Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if you were.) 

(Aw, come on! Don’t push me away like that, you know you liked that you were surprised!)

Yeah, I guess I was. 

Now, Patton, when are you going to ask Logan on a date?

( _ Oh my gosh! Virgil, no! _ )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this only took me a week to make and get out. It's the longest finished work I have as well! Boy, do I feel accomplished! I, practically, made it to my goal of twenty thousand words too! I find it funny that when I started planning this out I wanted to make it reach one hundred thousand words and have twenty-five (plus prologue and epilogue, making it twenty-seven altogether) chapters. Wow, that went down the drain. I really like how this turned out too!
> 
> I think I'm going to take a break from writing Disney inspired ones and write an actual original AU for once, or at least try, seeing as I can never finish them. Beauty and the Beast will probably be the next Disney one I'll do though!
> 
> Thank you everyone for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you guys understood that this was Virgil and Roman talking during the opening scene like in the actual movie. Welp, if not, you do now! The next chapters won't be like that though, so don't worry if you got confused. Only the prologue and the epilogue will be like that. Next chapter will also be longer!
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed!


End file.
